It's Time For More Games To Focus On The New Generation Of Hardware

Out with the old, in with the new (and now).

[PrimeVinister]

That day is coming - when the last gen gets left behind. If you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X, it can't come soon enough obviously.

[SullysCigar]

It feels like the damned chip shortage might have played some part in stifling this gen so far.

Maybe devs/pubs want to hedge their bets on cross gen releases, as they know this gen's growth is hamstrung.

We're starting to see more third party current gen only games being talked about, but we're further into the gen than is normal. It's annoying as hell.

[ClayRules2012]

Yeah, that chip shortage I think has in ways played a part in how this gen has gone so far. It’s rather annoying haha.

I’m glad we have exclusives like Spiderman 2 and Wolverine coming by Insomniac, but I’d also be great to know other devs are leaving last gen behind to push on into the future of gaming to allow their creative ideas for new living/breathing worlds to come to life like we’ve never seen before (think RDR2, only expanded upon) and that other devs did this not just with open world by linear games. In some way. Characters become less static figures just sitting and moving emotionlessly at the bar your in.

But beyond that, the gameplay that we’ve been told would go beyond what we’ve experienced before. I mean, Rift Apart was a real nice taste of what was possible and if that’s just the first bit of it, I can only imagine what else other devs who have real passion and great ideas that they can bring to the gameplay and design can do for Next Gen.

Waiting for all of this and having game after game be cross gen, I just don’t like.

[ClayRules2012]

SOON, I hope🤞🏻

[Knightofelemia]

You can do both balance between the old all ready established franchise while also making up a new franchise at the same time. Some of those old franchises are what help build a company up and establish the product with the consumer. Would I like to see Sony make a new franchise yes would I want Sony to forget about Sly Cooper no. I am mad Sony has dodged the Wild Arms franchise which I really enjoy but I also like franchises like Uncharted, Horizon, Days Gone to name a few that took over. Just like a new franchise old franchises also have a fan base and the fans would love to see say Sly Cooper get a game on the new hardware as well.

[isarai]

This isn't about franchises, it's about focusing on new hardware only so we can start to see something new.

[Majin-vegeta]

Feels like GOW is the last cross gen gane for Sony. Spoder man 2 next year is already PS5 only

[VerminSC]

Already? It’s been almost 2 years since the ps5 launched. I would have never guessed PlayStations exclusives would still be cross gen 2 years after launch.

[tay8701]

we have had a few current gen exclusives like returnal, rift apart, tokyo ghostwire, kena, deathloop just to name a few. Even though HFW is on ps4 as well, it still the best looking console game made to date.

[ClayRules2012]

@tay8701

I don’t mean to be rude or “That person” haha, honestly, but I just wanted to point out that Kena (Bridge of Spirits, I assume your referring to, unless there’s another game titled Kena on PS5 that’s exclusive that I don’t know about) was also on PS4, being cross gen.

I only mention that because you mentioned it amongst some of those PS5 exclusives, and maybe you did that by mistake.

[ClayRules2012]

Yeah, I think it is the last cross gen game for Sony. I’d be surprised if Sony had another exclusive under their belt within their first party studios that hasn’t been mentioned this far out that was “cross gen” apart from God of War, of course. If there was, I’d cry lol.

I’m so happy “Spoder man 2” is next year! I can’t wait to see how it looks in motion, gosh, the visual fidelity and animations will no doubt be cranked up...I can only imagine how much more smoothly he’ll move and traverse the world with his web swings😍😂

Insomniac, take your time with Spoder man 2!

Jokes aside, no hate on you for misspelling Spider-Man the way you did. I spelt liar as lier once on here, got corrected and just laughed and the person was cool about it haha.

Anyways, you enjoy the rest of your day, stay safe and God bless!

[Flawlessmic]

Shouldve been the case the day they got released atleast for any first party games minimum. Sony gave us a few atleast which was nice but stil, gt7, horizon and god of war should all be current gen only.

Prevoius gen had a great run, there are more than enough games for those players to play.

Its time for the previous gen to die and for this current gen to really get started.

[wwinterj]

Thing is the pandemic happened and chip shortages. I can see why games in the first year at least were cross gen. However enough own "next gen" consoles now that games should really be exclusive more.

[CrimsonWing69]

I think that day was should’ve been when the damn new generation of consoles came out, like how any other normal console generation was. We’re nearing 2 years into this generation with barely anything to show for it…

[wwinterj]

It's not been a normal world with the last couple of years or so though has it? The pandemic is why these things have happened. Nobody planned for the pandemic so here we are.

[CrimsonWing69]

Maybe they should've delayed these consoles then. Also, maybe they shouldn't have upped the price for games then, don't you agree?

Yea, I'm not letting the pandemic be an excuse for this one. We've still seen games worked on and released during the pandemic.

[wwinterj]

So the consoles were already going to be made and put out in the wild 2020. Why would they delay hardware that's ready to go?. The chip shortage clearly has made that difficult to keep up with demands. This means "exclusive" games are not a good idea during that time. We however did get some. I do agree some games being upped in price is not a good idea though that is a different subject.

[Lexreborn2]

It’s commendable what these devs pulled off in cross gen titles. Proved a lot of points along the way. They proved the difference in the systems with games like horizon showed that with pre-rendered cut scenes used to cover loading car in engine. Higher fidelity and smoother frame rates on newer system.

Showed yeah you can put these games on older hardware but it limits them overall. I wish resident evil 8 would’ve stayed next gen only. Games going forward are evolving and shouldn’t have to continue to cater to old techniques with minimal improvement.

Even dev time on exclusives seem to be better.

[neutralgamer1992]

We just need more games which are more fun to play and less of a chore we don't need thousands of fetch quests we need quality of content

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I trust Sony to let devs do what is best. It might actually be really, really tough to design a game that simply cannot be made to run on PS4 by reducing resolutions, frame rates, and fancy reflections.

Horizon 2 is a great example. It looks stupendous on the ps5, and it can still be cut down for old hardware. And there’s no harm here in getting more sales for the dev.

As long as studios push the ps5 hardware every time, I’m sure the games will be great. I don’t NEED games to be arbitrarily hyped as “next gen” only to enjoy them.

With that said, I’m certainly also expecting each studio’s last game for the gen to be “next gen” only. I’m not sure what those games look like, maybe it’s massive environments, or it’s super high polygon counts, but we all want to EVENTUALLY see the peak of the PS5’s potential, without any consideration for old hardware.

[isarai]

You actually got it backwards, it's harder to keep trying to pull more out of outdated hardware, especially when you have to make 2 versions for cross gen. Also making something next gen only from the get go allows a lot more than just "arbitrary hype"

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I disagree. I am considering what I see as the big picture: profit.

I don’t see how Horizon 2 was held back at all by PS4 hardware. Feel free to share…. I just see a game that would’ve sold millions on ps5, and, through a very minimal investment to remove certain reflections and lighting effects, allowed them to make millions more in PS4 sales.

Ultimately, a studio’s profit determines the budget of their games. If a dev leaves money on the table because they weren’t willing to invest in a “downsized” version, then they are capping their profit potential to the ps5 user base (which has been stunted by supply chain issues).

So, how do YOU know that games like Horizon 2 are negatively impacted by exploring their full profit potential?

[isarai]

Funny you bring up horizon 2, cause even Guerilla stated they couldn't get flying mounts to work in the 1st game because the hardware just couldn't load things fast enough, they got it to work in forbidden west, but you can really tell it was a struggle and not implemented till very late, why do i say that?. Because they didn't say a word about it till launch, and in the game they serve almost no function as if the game wasn't even designed with it in mind, likely because it was taking too long to get it to work, they werent sure they would even have it in there. Now you got them but they are not even that fast.

Wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't need to run on the PS4, and we could've gotten far more missions and environmental interaction built around flying mounts.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

You have no idea what was possible with the flying mounts on ps5. If they could’ve been sped up, I’m sure they would’ve been. I’m happier that they focused on the swimming mechanics feeling tight.

[SoulWarrior]

The supply issues are holding back the current install bases, so sadly I see more cross games then were planned for the next couple of years until supply lines are back in full flow again :/

[Inverno]

Why does it matter when most games exclusive to current gen play much like what we've gotten all through last gen? Prettier graphics shouldn't excite you all this much anymore, games continue being the same and current gen hasn't proven itself to be worth it. Until we move on from dumb AI and repetitive gameplay, and boring open worlds what's even the point?

[isarai]

Because 1st party is always the spearhead to what new hardware can do, and you cant take advantage of the new hardware aside from surface level details when making it cross gen.

Also making something next gen only is the key to fixing your issues ironically. AI, physics, animations and most other simulations are CPU based, cant design something for these new CPUs if they have to run on the very limited jaguar CPUs on previous systems. That combined with the SSD can do a LOT more than just pretty graphics.

[Inverno]

I'd agree if it weren't for the fact that most problems had on ps360 continued and worsened during the PS4/Xbone gen. I've yet to get a PS5, and I will eventually, but I'm not very optimistic about games being drastically different from what we've already been playing last gen. I get that these games so far have been in development since late last gen so we're all just playing the waiting game.

[isarai]

@Inverno

Yes because pretty much the only thing that got a notable improvement was the GPU, CPU and HDD remained pretty much the same. And THAT'S why this gen especially, i really REALLY want to see last gen ditched. EVERYTHING is a huge improvement, it's just that the ones that would display that best, aren't, because they're holding onto cross gen. If you want a peek of just the beginnings of what's possible, R&C and the Matrix demo are IMO a true taste of what we could be seeing, but just a taste. It's still early, with more time i really believe we could be seeing some really breathtaking stuff. I'm not saying they for sure will, but the potential and capabilities are certainly there, devs just have to embrace it

[Saaleh]

There is no doubt, we will see a huge leap this gen, the cycle will be longer too. VR2 will also make it feel unique and awesome too.

[RaiderNation]

Could not agree more!

[Einhander1971]

No doubt the new gen has stalled thanks to covid, chip shortage. Unfortunately the devs are still relying on last gen with cross gen titles. Unfortunately it ain't doing us PS5, Xbox owner's no favours.

[Father__Merrin]

Depends some games like dying light update are superb if not played before

[Viljong]

Amen to that. You didnt get new horizons and killzones on ps3 when ps4 released why this time last gen have to ruin the current gen progress.

[repsahj]

Maybe no supply issues during that time?

[Stanjara]

Wake me up in 2024.

[darkrider]

Its hard because the lack of new consoles to buy. Studios want to make more money. Gamers still have problems getting them and if the news are right.... Until 2024 it Will be hard to get a ps5... Just hope that the situation doesn't get bad on Taiwan because of China. If it does....

[repsahj]

They should do this from the start. I really like what they did with Godfall, they focus on next-gen first then after a few months they ported it on last gen. That way last gen in not neglected totally.

[Tetsujin]

YAY! So the whole 9 people who have the new consoles can enjoy them while the rest of us wait till the scalpers sell them at store cost.

I stopped after the second paragraph because the writer even expresses the "I know gamers are waiting to buy the new consoles BUT..."

[Retroman]

My personal "Opinion" hope the "Next" Ratchet and Clank "NOT" like Rift Apart (open world)

[Spartacus10]

Yes but most people on N4G are concerned about the wallets of the corporations and how many sales they might lose.